Town tightens recycling rules; diversion rate is 54 percent

One wrong item can eliminate full load of recycling

Posted 4/20/19

When it comes to recycling, cleaner is better.

Barrington Department of Public Works Director Alan Corvi said agencies are getting more particular about which recyclable items they will accept, …

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Town tightens recycling rules; diversion rate is 54 percent

One wrong item can eliminate full load of recycling

Posted

When it comes to recycling, cleaner is better.

Barrington Department of Public Works Director Alan Corvi said agencies are getting more particular about which recyclable items they will accept, and what will be rejected. 

At the Johnston headquarters for the Rhode Island Resource and Recovery Corporation, officials will turn away entire loads of recycling if they find just a single item that does not belong. 

In the past three months, four full loads of recyclables hauled from Barrington to Johnston have been redirected away from the recycling plant and instead dumped in the landfill.

Mr. Corvi said that on each occasion, the workers from Mega Disposal (the contractor hired for trash and recycling pickup in Barrington) will text him a photo of the rejected load. The tipping fee bill of about $750 — the cost of dumping the load in the landfill — will arrive later in town.

"They even reject loads if it's too wet," said Mr. Corvi.

The DPW director said the market for recycled material has changed dramatically over the past few years. 

"Recycling isn't like it used to be," said Mr. Corvi.

Years ago, RIRRC would collect recyclable materials from communities across Rhode Island, sell it and then share proceeds with the cities and towns. Mr. Corvi said RIRRC is currently paying to get rid of the recyclables. 

"There's no market for it, with China shutting the doors on recycled materials. All of our plastics are going to the Koreas," said Mr. Corvi. "No one wants it anymore. The market isn't there."

Mr. Corvi said agencies are even struggling to move recyclable glass. Instead, some of the glass is being ground up and used in landfills. 

In response to the shifting recyclables market, the town and Mega implemented an internal policy which calls for the rejection of curbside recyclables if the bins contain any non-compliant items. For example, if a resident places empty aluminum soda cans in a trash bag and then places that bag in the recycling bin, the Mega crew will not pick it up. 

"You can't have it in plastic bags," said Mr. Corvi. 

The DPW official added that residents would be helping the town if they spent a few minutes to clean out their discarded recyclables before dropping them in the bin. 

"Cleaner recycling is better," said Mr. Corvi. "That's our goal right now, is to make sure what we put out is clean."

Mr. Corvi said residents would be wise to check the RIRRC website to see the up-to-date list of what materials are accepted and which ones are not — he said the state no longer accepts Styrofoam.

"Everything's drying up," he added.

Recycling rate

Barrington's recycling rate for 2018 was 28.8 percent, which was better than some communities in Rhode Island, but not as good as others. For example, Barrington's rate exceeded that of Central Falls, Bristol, North Providence and some others. But a number of towns, such as Portsmouth, Glocester, Middletown, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Richmond and Smithfield have rates of 30 percent or better. Smithfield's rate was 45.1 percent.

Mr. Corvi said Barrington's rate has ranged from 27.1 percent in 2011 to 29.8 in 2015. He said RIRRC encourages communities to strive for the 35 percent mark for a recycling rate.

"We're holding our own," Mr. Corvi added.

Possibly more important than the single recycling rate is the overall diversion rate for communities, which records the amount of different materials being diverted away from the landfill. 

In Barrington in 2018, the overall diversion rate was 54.1 percent, which was one of the highest diversion rates in the state. Only Portsmouth (56.4 percent) and South Kingstown (54.3 percent) had higher diversion rates.

Items being diverted away from the landfill include recyclables, compost, scrap metal, clothing and a few other items, such as used motor oil.

Refuse and recycling

Following are some of the key figures for Barrington's refuse and recycling program in 2018:

• Refuse: 5,685 tons

• Recycling: 2,304 tons

• Compost: 4,034 tons

• Scrap metal: 156 tons

• Clothing: 62 tons

• Other recycling: 145 tons

• Total waste: 12,387 tons

• Waste per person (before recycling): 1,549 pounds

• Waste sent to landfill per household: .95 tons

Barrington vs. RI averages

Following are recycling and diversion rates for Barrington compared to the state averages:

Barrington RI average

• Recycling rate: 28.8 percent 18.7 percent

• Mandatory recycling: 53.6 percent 31.2 percent

• Overall diversion rate: 54.1 percent 32.4 percent

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